European Federal Union
The European Federal Union, commonly called the European Union or simply The EU, is a nation compromised of 37 federal states and multiple overseas territories. The bulk of the country on Earth is located within mainland Europe, with overseas holdings located in South America and the Atlantic Ocean. The European Union has two extraplanetary holdings: The Republic of Copernicus on Luna, and the recently-established Argyre Republic 'on 'Mars. With a population of 645 million, the EFU is the third most populous nation on Earth, approximately 2.72 billion behind the AEDU and 16 million ahead of the United States. The capital of the EU is Brussels, which functions as its own federal state, while the largest city is London, part of the British Line. History Pre-European Community With support from the United States, and facing the threat of the USSR on its eastern flank, the nations of Western Europe met in Strasbourg, France to discuss terms for closer political, military, and economic cooperation in order to help the continent recover and reorganize in the aftermath of World War II. This was also spurred by the collapse of European colonial empires after the African Wars of Independence, which led to a substantial "Europe First" movement that sought to abandon most foreign affairs and instead concentrate on domestic and local matters, now that most European nations no longer had significant overseas investments. European Community & European Union European Community The subsequent Lyon Treaty of 1951 brought into existence the European Community, a coalition of 5 nations that announced their intentions to pursue closer partnerships with each other and begin negotiations in foreign affairs and economic matters as a unified bloc. Not only was this meant to act as a political statement to the Warsaw Pact, and as an act of recovery for a badly damaged continent, but it was also made with the purpose of preventing a war like World War II from ever happening again; by integrating the political systems, economies, and societies of European nations, any two nations going to war would suffer greatly from the disruption alone, discouraging wars between members. The newly-founded European Community expanded gradually into a titan of politics. Less than a year after it's formation, the United Kingdom joined the EC, strengthening it's position and power within Europe. The first test of the Community's political power came in the 1970s with the Second Spanish Civil War, where the European Community assisted forces loyal to the Kingdom of Spain after it was revealed that the Soviet Union had been assisting communist forces in Andalucía and Valencia. By the end of the Civil War in 1978, the European Community had cemented itself as the main political entity in Europe. By the 1990s, it had expanded to include Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Greece, with other countries expressing interest in possibly joining after the end of the First Cold War. European Union As the First Cold War came to an end and the Warsaw Pact dissolved, the European Community stood as the only remaining political organization on the continent. As more and more former soviet republics and satellite states began to turn towards the European Community for societal and economic stability. As a result, the nations of the European Community began to draft a new constitution in order to draw the existing nations closer together, as well as make it easier for new nations to enter. The Strasbourg Treaty 'was signed on May 16th, 1993, dissolving the European Community and creating the European Union. The first two new nations to join the European Union would be Poland and Hungary, both in 1997. Czechoslovakia would follow soon after in 1998, followed by Romania in 1999. Non-former soviet states would join the new European Union, too. Norway officially joined in 1994 (carrying over its membership application from the European Community), followed by Sweden in 2000 and the United Balkan States in 2003. As more and more states began to join the European Union, more developments were made to try and bring the EU countries closer together. The first major development was the creation of the Euro in 2000. The Euro was quickly adopted by most of the EU's member nations at the time and would be adopted by many new nations who joined afterword. Despite this, there was a movement in the late 2000s and early 2010s (primarily around the 2007 Recession) to scale down the power of the European Union and even get some states to leave. In 2010 a referendum in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union was defeated by 4%, and in 2011 a referendum in Spain was defeated by just 1.75%. The events of 'June 26th, 2015 would be known as the greatest test to the European Union's ability to keep its countries together and lead during times of disaster. On the day of June 26th, multiple terrorist attacks were carried out in 15 cities from Lisbon to Budapest. In some cities, it took almost two days to return security and order to the streets, When it was over, almost 1,500 people had been killed and 3,500 at been injured. In the following months, the European Defense Force would be founded as a combination of the major militaries of the EU member nations. As the shock of the 6/26 attacks wore off, the political manifesto "Pax Europae: The Case for a Stronger Europe" ''was published by former European Parliament President Martin Schulz in 2020. It detailed an extensive plan for bringing the European Union together, culminating in the creation of a single federation within the next 50 years. The book received a positive response across the EU and lead to the rise of movements such as the European Unity Party to campaign for increased centralization. During the 'Second Cold War, the European Union experienced tension with both the '''Union of Eurasian Republics and Turkish State '(which would eventually form the 'Eurasian Union in 2033) on its eastern border. With the accession of Ukraine into the European Union in 2023, pro-Russian groups in the eastern part of the country began to ramp up their activity, leading to Russian forces seizing two of Ukraine's easternmost provinces in 2028. Ukraine, the European Union, and the United States all contested this occupation, though the European Union officially accepted Eurasian ownership of the Donbass in 2051 during the St. Petersburg Deal. Unification Post-Unification & Present Day Spaceflight Formation of the ESA The European Space Agency was founded in May 1972 as the culmination of multiple national space programs from European Community states: The French CNES, the West German DLR, and Belgian BIRA. While initially created primarily for the purposes of sharing information and coordinating operations, the ESA quickly turned into a serious space program as ambition turned towards human spaceflight. As time went on, other countries would begin the participate in the ESA; primarily Italy in 1974, the United Kingdom in 1975, and Spain in 1981. Early Spaceflight (1965-1992) Predating the formation of the ESA, the First European built and launched satellite was the French Astérix-1, launched in 1965. Prior to the ESA's operation, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Denmark had all built and launched their own satellites. The first satellite launched under the administration of the ESA was ETS-1, launched into Low Earth Orbit in January 1973. On the first anniversary of it's formation, the ESA released a statement which officially began the Athena program, with the objective of sending the first European astronauts into space before 1980. Between the First and Second Space Age (1992-2019) Post Ares 1 Demographics Population Eurostat estimates the 2110 population of the European Union to be around 645 million, with 99.4% (641.2 million) living on Earth. The population has experienced a -6.39% change over 50 years and a -12.72% decrease from 2010. The European Union is the third most populous nation on Earth, 2.72 billion behind the AEDU and 16 million behind the United States. The population is expected to plateau on Earth and continue to grow offworld. As of 2110, approximately 82% of the European population on Earth lives in urban areas (second-level divisions with more than 2000 people per square kilometer), with about 43% of them (36% of the total population) living within 5 federally-recognized megaregions: The Rennes-Rome Axis, the Golden Banana, the British Line, the Rhine Line, and the Scandinavian Banana. The largest city on Earth is London, and the largest city offworld is Luton on Luna. Language With having an extremely diverse population, the European Union is home to almost a hundred different languages. Of these, there are about three main language groups present within the country. The Anglo-Germanic language family is the largest group by population, with approximately 221 million Europeans speaking one of the languages as their first language. The two largest languages in the group, German and English, are spoken by almost 145 million. English is the most widely spoken language in the EU as a whole, either as a first language or otherwise, with nearly 56% of Europeans having an understanding of the language. The second largest language group is the Romance languages, spoken by 188 million Europeans. The Romance languages (including Spanish, French, and Italian) are mainly spoken in the Southern and Western parts of mainland Europe, as well as in Romania. The third main language is the Slavic group. The Slavic group is understood by 84.3 million Europeans as a first language and is primarily spoken within the eastern part of the country and in the Balkans. Religion Officially, the European Doctrine of Human Rights guarantees freedom of religion to all citizens. The largest religion within the EU is Christianity, with 46.2% of the population (34.2% Old World Catholic, 12% Protestant). After Christianity, 10.9% of the population is Muslim, mostly descendants of immigrants that arrived in between the 1990s and 2020s from what is today the Union of Arab Republics. Third, 3.6% of the population is Jewish, primarily in France, Germany, Britain, and Ukraine. 5.9% of the population follow other religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and some pre-Christian folk religions. 34.1% of the population is irreligious, the second highest national percentage on Earth (behind the AEDU). Cybernetics Since legalization in 2046, the European Union has one of the lowest percentages of cybernetically modified individuals, at roughly 32.5%. Of these, only 24.6% have 1-5 modifications, 6.35% have 6-10 modifications, and 1.55% are 'heavily modified' with more than 10 modifications. Government Structure Like most other countries, the European Federal Union can be divided into three basic branches of government: * Executive: '''Headed by the Prime Minister & Deputy Minister of the European Union, as well as their respective cabinets. Can set policy guidelines for all areas and can suggest legislation to be send through the Parliament. * '''Legislative: '''The European Parliament. Appoint the Prime Minister every five years. Can propose legislation & impeach members of government. * '''Judicial: The European High Court. 27 Judges elected by the European Parliament, who serve for one twenty-year term. Smaller federal courts can be appointed by the Prime Minister with confirmation from Parliament. Can interpret the European Constitution and all other laws. The European Parliament is made of 850 seats, with each seat representing roughly 750,000 people on average. Seats are reapportioned every fifteen years, following a national census. Each state is guaranteed three representatives, regardless of population. As of 2110, the states with the most and least MPS are Germany and Iceland, respectively. Members of Parliament serve a five-year term which is renewable once. Once a new parliament is elected, the members come together to elect a Prime Minister from within their own ranks. Usually, the Prime Minister is the leader of whichever party holds the most seats, although this is not required. In only one term (2100-2105) has the Prime Minister not been from the largest party. Each member of the High Court is elected by the Parliament from existing Federal judges for nonrenewable twenty-year terms. Political Parties Like other countries, the European Federal Union has a variety of major political parties who strive for seats in each election. Most are derived from political parties from before the unification of the EU, but others have been made afterward, as well. The major political parties of the European Union are as follows: Minor Parties Alongside the national parties, there are several 'ethnic parties' within the European Union. These parties usually advocate for the interests of a specific cultural group within the country. These parties have tended to stay neutral in national politics, and will usually form a coalition with whichever national parties gains the most seats in an election. The minor parties within the European Union are as follows: Category:European Federal Union Category:Great Unifiers Category:Countries